Laura de la Plaza

I am a Senior Architect and Urban Planner with over 20 years of experience bridging the gap between technical design, strategic urban consulting, and ESG. Currently, I serve as the Head of Urban Planning & ESG at JLL in Madrid, where I lead multidisciplinary teams in managing complex infrastructure projects, masterplanning, and asset repositioning. My work sits at the intersection of city-making and corporate real estate strategy. At JLL, I drive business development and integrate urban planning with wider real estate advisory services. My technical portfolio spans from large-scale zoning due diligence and viability studies for land-use changes to the design of comprehensive ESG strategies, including risk analysis and decarbonization action plans for asset portfolios. Beyond my corporate responsibilities, I am deeply committed to knowledge sharing. I co-authored the book "Elements of Sustainable Architecture"(Routledge, 2019) and served as an Associate Professor of Urbanism and Sustainability at the Pontifical University of Salamanca (UPSAM) for five years. I am also an active contributor to the industry dialogue, recently serving as a speaker on Net Zero Carbon (NZC) strategies at "The District" and as a member of the ULI Sustainability Product Council. What defines my career—and what I aim to share as a mentor—is the diverse path I have traveled. I have navigated roles ranging from rigorous academic research to pragmatic, market-driven real estate strategy. This trajectory has granted me a comprehensive 360-degree vision of the industry. My goal is to help you leverage this multifaceted perspective, bridging deep market knowledge with sustainability applied to urban planning.